Quantum Leap: Northern Kentucky Excels Operating in Shadow of UK and UL

March 16th, 2019 - 15:12

South Dakota State made five NCAA tourney appearance in the previous seven years and won the Summit League regular-season crown this campaign, but it will be North Dakota State participating in this season's extravaganza trying to generate national headlines stemming from its relative newcomer status to the NCAA playoffs. There has been a striking number of smaller schools over the decades make even more impressive transitions to big-time basketball than the SDSU Jackrabbits (moved up to DI in 2005-06).

An overwhelming majority of dreamy schools moving up in classification from the small-college ranks to the major-college level are little more than fodder for prominent universities seeking non-conference cupcakes to devour. Amid the moving-on-up carnage, Northern Kentucky became the fifth institution making a quantum leap by earning the right to participate in the NCAA Tournament two years ago in its inaugural eligible season at Division I level - joining Seattle (29-4 record in 1952-53), Morehead State (19-10 in 1955-56), Long Beach State (24-5 in 1969-70) and Southwestern Louisiana (25-4 in 1971-72). Incredibly, the first four of these schools won their DI tourney debut and returned to the NCAA playoffs the next season, too. NKU is back in the tourney this year.

Long Beach and USL each compiled a 25-4 mark in the 1971-72 campaign. USL's 90-83 victory over visiting LBSU early that season might have been one of the best inter-sectional matchups few people ever heard about or remember. Long Beach swingman Ed Ratleff and USL guard Bo Lamar became the only set of former high school teammates (Columbus, Ohio) named NCAA consensus first-team All-Americans in the same season. They achieved the feat again the next year.

USL (now known as Louisiana-Lafayette), powered by Lamar and two other future pros (Roy Ebron and Fred Saunders), became the only one of this rare quartet to qualify for the national semifinals in its final season sporting small-school status. The Ragin' Cajuns were upended by national champion-to-be Evansville in the 1971 College Division Tournament. Evansville, sparked by guard Don Buse, was the host school for the Division II tourney from 1957 through 1976. Lamar collected 35 points and 11 assists while Ebron amassed 33 points and 20 rebounds in USL's 112-101 victory against Marshall in the first round of 1972 Midwest Regional when the Cajuns scored the most points in tourney history for a school in its first DI playoff game.

USL, which also won its 1973 NCAA DI tourney opener, was prohibited from fielding a team for two seasons (1973-74 and 1974-75) as part of sanctions stemming from an NCAA probation. UNLV failed to appear in the NCAA playoffs in the Rebels' first five years at the DI level. Following is a summary of where LBSU and USL rank amid the quickest successful transitions by DI neophytes (appeared in DI tourney at least once in first five campaigns):

Rank School 1st DI Season Summary of Prompt DI Tournament Success
1. Seattle 1952-53 Appeared in NCAA Division I Tournament first four seasons through 1955-56 before finishing national runner-up in 1958.
2. Long Beach State 1969-70 Participated in tourney each of first four seasons at DI level.
3. Jacksonville 1966-67 National runner-up in 1970 en route to three tourney appearances in four-year span after missing event first three seasons.
4. UAB 1978-79 Seven consecutive tourney appearances from 1981 through 1987 after missing first two seasons.
5. Louisiana-Lafayette 1971-72 Won tourney games each of first two seasons at DI level before facing two seasons of exile as a penalized program.
6. Morehead State 1955-56 Competed first two major-college years in national tourney and three of first six seasons.
7. UNC Charlotte 1972-73 Reached Final Four in 1977 after missing tourney first four seasons.
8. Alcorn State 1977-78 Appeared in DI tourney four times in five years first half of 1980s after missing first two seasons at that level.
9. Old Dominion 1976-77 Four tourney appearances in seven-year span from 1980 through 1986 after missing first three seasons.
10. Missouri State 1982-83 Four consecutive tourney appearances from 1987 through 1990 after missing first four seasons.
11. College of Charleston 1989-90 Appeared in tourney four times in six-year span from 1994 through 1999 after missing first four seasons.
12. James Madison 1976-77 Three straight tourney appearances from 1981 through 1983 after missing first four seasons.
13. Marist 1981-82 Back-to-back playoff appearances in 1986 and 1987 after missing first four seasons.